- Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Robert Iger will likely stay on past his 2019 retirement date if the entertainment company wins its bid to buy the entertainment assets of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, according to people familiar with the negotiations. on.wsj.com/2AzJIrp

- A Volkswagen AG manager was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and will pay a $400,000 fine for participating in the German auto giant's emissions fraud. on.wsj.com/2BQ8nGz

- Wal-Mart Stores Inc announced Wednesday that it will shorten its legal name to Walmart Inc. The move highlights the company's shift away from building traditional stores toward competing online with rival Amazon.com Inc. on.wsj.com/2AWYBou

- General Motors Co plans to use costly but lightweight carbon fiber to make the beds on premium versions of large pickup trucks, according to people familiar with the strategy, as the automaker aims to stay competitive in the crucial category while also satisfying tightening fuel-economy standards. on.wsj.com/2BHcsvS

- Six women filed a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday, claiming the movie producer's actions to cover up sexual assaults amounted to civil racketeering. on.wsj.com/2j1cXgM

FT

- Italy’s competition authority slapped a 60 million euro fine on Unilever, for abusing its dominant position in the market for packaged ice-cream through the Algida brand.

- Crypto-currency Bitcoin crossed the $13,000-mark for the first time. Bitcoin started the year 2017 at around $1,000 and has shot higher since, luring in investors with its soaring valuation.

- A new study by specialist research group Coalition found that the much-hyped EU Mifid II investor protections coming into force on Jan. 3 will erode less than 3 per cent of investment banks’ annual revenue from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

- Australian Securities Exchange said it plans to use blockchain technology to manage the clearing and settlement of equity transactions.

NYT

- UnitedHealth Group Inc's Optum unit will acquire Davita Inc's primary and urgent care services, a large for-profit chain of dialysis centers, for about $4.9 billion in cash. nyti.ms/2AgKT0j

- Oliver Schmidt, a former Volkswagen AG manager in Michigan, was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years in prison for his role in the German automaker's decade-long scheme to cheat on diesel emissions tests. nyti.ms/2AYkCDm

- Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be free to publicly discuss their work from now on, Scott Pruitt, the agency's administrator, has assured lawmakers who criticized the EPA for preventing employees from presenting findings about climate change. nyti.ms/2kv7cId

- U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a speech on Wednesday that mega-deals like Aetna Inc's $77 billion sale to CVS Health Corp could kill competition and also backed the Justice Department's fight against AT&T Inc - Time Warner Inc merger. nyti.ms/2iwaC9t

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** Alberta's ambitious plan to lower its industrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without alienating the province's powerful oil and gas sector has been rolled out with a mixed response from many of the heavy emitters it will impact. (tgam.ca/2ACZQXk)

** Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd is selling C$200 million ($155.96 million) in shares even as the company dials back spending and warns of additional delays to its marquee Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. (tgam.ca/2ACCf9d)

** Plains Midstream Canada said it is reopening its train-loading facility in Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, which closed in 2016 after oil prices had plunged to less than $50 a barrel from more than $100 and Canadian crude was shunned by U.S. refiners in favor of cheaper supplies from overseas. (tgam.ca/2ADiDSo)

NATIONAL POST

** WestJet Airlines Ltd is forming a new trans-border venture with Delta Air Lines to expand its reach into the U.S., part of a diversified growth strategy that will see the Calgary-based airline try to attract more premium customers while also launching an ultra-low cost carrier. (bit.ly/2AVZM7N)

** Hudson's Bay Co Chief Executive Richard Baker believes the department store retailer will see an upside from the demise of Sears Canada, but the apparent health of HBC's operations in Canada might be moot given the malaise and underperformance of its business divisions in the U.S. and Europe. (bit.ly/2B01Efw)

Britain

The Times

- Cancer patients and people with severe mental illness are going without essential medicines because of shortages that have cost the National Health Service 180 million pounds in six months, the Times has learnt. bit.ly/2AfJ7MX

- Britain must pay an exit bill of about 40 billion pounds even if it does not get a trade deal with the European Union, Philip Hammond said on Wednesday. bit.ly/2AxrJCa

The Guardian

- Michel Barnier, the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, has told member states that the British government has just 48 hours to agree a text on a potential deal or it will be told that negotiations will not move on to the next stage. bit.ly/2ACG8e6

- More than 2 million people in the United Kingdom are stuck with permanent overdrafts, with many trapped in a "vicious cycle" of borrowing, according to a debt charity. bit.ly/2Ae3iuI

The Telegraph

- European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker fears Theresa May's government could collapse next week if Brexit talks remain deadlocked, the Telegraph has learnt. bit.ly/2Aguklb

- Hedge fund billionaire Christopher Hohn's bid to oust the London Stock Exchange's chairman has received a major setback after an influential investor advisory firm urged shareholders not to support him. bit.ly/2BOcR0d

Sky News

- Prudential Plc is courting buyers for a bigger than expected portion of its UK annuities business worth up to 13 billion pounds ($17.40 billion). bit.ly/2zXD63b

- A group of Conservative members of parliament has written to Prime Minister Theresa May expressing outrage at colleagues "imposing their own conditions" on the Brexit negotiations. bit.ly/2AdCdaN

China and North Korea complaining and those same ridiculous cocksuckers have been tossing missles around and setting off fucking atomic bombs in the neighborhood? I'm reminded of the Dems and their howling about people resigning for groping, an irony similar to those who doth protest too much! Funny when the demented think that a statement to the state run press is convincing anyone of anything but the apparent truth.Kim needs to stop being such a cunt, apologize to the international community and stop his testing and program. The little cocksucker.

What is weird is this; that 2000 years ago, there were no people even resembling Jews in the middle-east at all.

Turns out that there is not a single ancient Jewish city in what is now called Israel. There is not a single city where the Hebrew script is used on the statues and buildings. There is not a single city where the buildings are in the ancient Jewish architectural style. In fact, there is not even a category of "ancient Jewish architectural style".

If you check out all the ancient cities in Israel, they are all Greek, and their ruins are still there for you to visit. Their inscriptions are in the Greek script and the buildings are in the ancient Greek architectural styles.

The ancient Jewish cities in Israel are,.... well there aren't any. Not even one.

Here's an interesting example of a first century BC Greek inscription (i.e., in Greek letters) from Jerusalem's Temple Mount forbidding the entry of Gentiles (i.e., non-Greeks) to the Temple precinct....